1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to secure payment capture for secure financial transactions. In particular, the present invention relates to processes that allow a merchant to accept payment device information for a financial transaction and then submit payment processing requests at a subsequent time or to perform real-time financial transactions without requiring sensitive information to be displayed to a merchant.
2. The Relevant Technology
Financial transactions occur in a wide range of locations. There is a large number of financial transaction events, however, that occur without the benefit or convenience of having point of sales equipment. For example, many sales representatives make sales presentations to potential customers at their homes to make the sales presentation more convenient for the customer as well as provide a more personable atmosphere in which the customer is more comfortable. In these situations, the customer's home likely does not have a point of sale device, such as a cash register. Furthermore, the sales representative likely travels frequently and needs to be able to be unburdened with heavy and/or sophisticated equipment that would require the customer to have network capabilities. In some situations, network capabilities are not possible at the immediate time of the sales presentation and/or sales negotiation. However, the sales representative would like to be able to “close the deal” while the customer is in a frame of mind to make such a decision. If a sales representative waits until after the sales pitch, the customer may have other distractions which cause the customer to change her mind about a purchase. Furthermore, as a matter of efficiency, it is much easier for the sales representative to obtain the financial transaction information rather than make potentially multiple phone calls or emails to the customer to try to obtain the financial information after the fact.
Other examples of financial transactions that occur without a point of sale device in immediate proximity other than the direct sale example provided above. These can include charitable donations, service vending, or any other situation where payment is desired to be proffered upon concluding a certain interaction between the merchant and the customer. As used herein, the term “merchant” is used broadly to refer to anyone receiving payment, while the term “customer” is used broadly to refer to anyone proffering payment.
The most common way for merchants to obtain payment information is for the merchant to request that the customer write down payment information. However, with fraud becoming an increasing concern, merchants want to be able to secure a customer's trust. Providing payment information on a piece of paper has the potential of becoming lost or stolen. In addition, the customer cannot be assured that the merchant will shred the paper. And, even if the merchant does shred the payment information, the information may be obtained by fraudulent means and reconstructed to discover the customer's sensitive information.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to provide merchants with the ability to be able to obtain payment information in a secure manner and to be able to pass this sensitive information securely to a payment authorization service without requiring the sensitive information to be displayed to the merchant, thus keeping the purchase event as secure as possible for the customer.